Saturday, November 27, 2010

Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook had a monster night on Friday. His line: a career-high 43 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, and a block while hitting 17 of 18 free throws.

The BreakdownWestbrook has taken his game to another level this season, well above what even the most optimistic fantasy owners had anticipated. Russell's scoring has taken a huge leap up to 23.8 a game this season thanks in large part to his ability to get to the line nearly 10 times a game while hitting a career-best 90.3% of his attempts.

Westbrook had already established himself as a nightly triple-double threat even last season, but now that his percentages and scoring have risen, he could be a top 10 fantasy player for the rest of this season and a top 10 preseason pick entering next season. As of today, he ranks second in our player ratings. If he can sustain the great free throw shooting, which is almost 10% higher than his career average of 81.4%, he remains a strong candidate to finish at the top of the player ratings at season's end.